Madison - Missing safeguards, staff turnover and shoddy bookkeeping within the state's flagship jobs agency led to delinquent loans going uncollected, financial deals being misstated or unrecorded, and credit card and other transactions getting no checks for fraud or errors, outside auditors have found.

Monday's report from auditing firm Schenck SC represented the first all-inclusive financial statements to come before board members of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. in the agency's nearly 18 months of existence. The scrutiny of the WEDC and its $85 million budget on Monday also included a Senate committee hearing on how the agency is run and a meeting of the WEDC board's audit committee ahead of a meeting of the full agency board on Tuesday. | Dec. 17, 2012»Read Full Article(235)

Home sales in Wisconsin stayed on a brisk pace in November by jumping almost 25%, but the median sale price broke from a trend and retreated 2.3%.

Monthly sales of existing homes now have risen for almost a year and a half, and are up 21.1% so far in 2012, statistics released Monday by the Wisconsin Realtors Association show. | Dec. 17, 2012»Read Full Article(9)

The Milwaukee-based provider of electronic parts catalogs and marketing services said net income fell to $113,000, or a penny a share, from $272,000, or 3 cents, a year earlier. | Dec. 17, 2012»Read Full Article

Humana Inc. said it plans to add about 40 people at its call centers in the Green Bay area. The jobs would start next month and entail providing customer service for Humana's health plans. The health insurer declined to comment on the pay range for the jobs. Humana has 3,100 full-time and part-time employees in Green Bay and De Pere. | Dec. 17, 2012»Read Full Article

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans said Monday it will commit $6.8 million in 2013 to help build 113 Habitat for Humanity houses, renewing its ongoing relationship with the housing program.

Through a partnership called Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity, the fraternal organization and its members have committed more than $180 million and more than 3.5 million volunteer hours to Habitat since 2005. | Dec. 17, 2012»Read Full Article(3)

A pair of redevelopment projects proposed for downtown Port Washington are to be reviewed by the city's Plan Commission on Thursday.

In the 100 block of N. Franklin St., Renew Port Holdings LLC, led by Gertjan van den Broek, is proposing a mixed-use project with first floor commercial space and 18 apartments on the upper three floors. | Dec. 17, 2012»Read Full Blog Post